I'm getting a raise!

(Get your minds out of the gutter ...)

Proof positive why Republicans so vehemently oppose the Obama stimulus: because it helps little people like me rather than their über-wealthy corporate CEO donors.

The AP reported that benefits in the state are based on a worker’s prior earnings. In 2008, the Florida unemployment benefits ranged from $32 to $275 per week. Under the new agreement, Florida’s weekly unemployment benefits will increase by $25.

According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, approximately $12.2 billion of the $787 billion in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is set to be delivered to Florida over the next three years. Additionally, some of the funding in the stimulus is already included in Governor Crist’s proposed $66.5-billion state budget for the next fiscal year. The budget is expected to either create or retain 314,590 jobs in the state, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reported.

OK, so it’s only $25 a week individually. Still, $345 million put back into Florida’s crippled economy is a good thing.

Indeed it is. For me it means that I can afford an extra pizza every month. Whoopie!

Seriously, though, it gives some hope for us jobseekers that more jobs will be available soon. And while that's anathema to Republicans, it's good news for Florida.

I have to give credit to Gov. Charlie Crist (painful though that is) for supporting the stimulus and not following the lead of fellow GOP governors Haley Barbour of Mississippi and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, who want to reject the stimulus money. Here's hoping their constituents recognize how they're being sold down the (Mississippi) river. Even though their respective state legislatures can accept the money over the governors' objections (making said objections little more than crass political posturing), perhaps Barbour and Jindal are writing their own political epitaphs ... which can only be good news for their states.

Heckuva job, Haley and Bobby.